Out of My Mind

Out of My Mind

Written By Sharon M. Draper

Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers 2012

Awards: Coretta Scott King Award Winning Author

Summary:

Imagine not being able to talk, walk, feed yourself, write, or communicate any more than “yes” and “no.” This is a story of a girl named Melody and her struggle with cerebral palsy. Melody has a photographic memory and is smarter than all of her classmates, but she can’t tell anyone that. Finally, when Melody gets a machine that can voice her words, no one can believe how smart she is. Melody does everything in her power to prove herself and just be considered a normal 5^th grader.

Hope. Voice. Fight. Inspiration. Determination.

Grade Level: 3-5

Interest Level: 4

Lexile Measure: 700

Description: Fiction

Suggested Delivery: Individual, Group

Key Vocabulary:

·      Bellow- shout loudly and without restraint

·      Bulge- swell or protrude outwards

·      Burden- an onerous or difficult concern

·      Cerebral Palsy- a loss or deficiency of motor control with involuntary spasms caused by permanent brain damage from birth

·      Convulsion- violent uncontrollable contractions of muscles

·      Inclusion- the act of making a part of something

·      Disability- when one cannot perform due to physical or mental unfitness

Electronic Resources:

http://sharondraper.com/bookdetail.asp?id=35

This is Sharon Draper’s website about the novel. There are general questions answered about why Draper wrote the book the way she did and a short 3-minute video where she discusses more about her writing.

“Storyboarder” is a free app that can be used to organize thoughts, pictures, notes and more. Students can use this app to journal their thoughts and findings as they read.

Teaching Suggestions:

Scholastic’s Teacher’s website has great before, during, and after reading suggestions as well!

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2014/05/teaching-out-my-mind

Before: I would suggest discussing what Cerebral Palsy to the class before starting the book. You can ask what they already know about it or if they know anyone with it. Appropriate opinions, discussion, and listening skills should be used because it could be a sensitive topic to some people.

During: While reading students can fill out character maps as they find out more information about the main characters. Each character map should include the character’s name, physical traits, character traits, significant moments, and any other important information.

After: Students can create a plot diagram of the events from the book. The diagram should include exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. There is a great example of this in the link below.

http://www.storyboardthat.com/teacher-guide/out-of-my-mind-by-sharon-draper

Writing Activity: SPWAN writing is a great strategy to use after reading this book. It measure student’s comprehension and make them look at the story from different perspectives. Directions on SPWAN writing can be found from the link below:

http://michaelmilillo.weebly.com/spawn-writing.html